New Women and Children's Unit at Treliske won't be completed for SIX years
The project has been delayed again and the cost will top £290 million
Last updated 12th Oct 2022
Cornwall's much needed new women and children's unit at Royal Cornwall Hospital in Truro has been delayed again and will not be completed for another six years. The cost of the entire project has also been revealed and will top £290 million.
The new unit at Treliske is part of the government's new hospitals programme which was announced with great fanfare by former Prime Minister Boris Johnson in 2019.
He announced £3.7billion for the scheme to build 40 "new hospitals" which included £99m for the new women and children's unit in Cornwall.
However, the overall programme has been hit with delays and rising costs and Royal Cornwall Hospital NHS Trust (RCHT) bosses have now published an outline business case for the Truro project with the hope that it will be approved by the government in early 2023. They are hoping that construction work could begin in Truro in summer 2024 with a view to completing the scheme in autumn 2028.
At the first announcements in 2019 it had been hoped that work would have started last year with a completion date in 2024. But the government has asked for revised business plans to be submitted due to the increasing cost of construction.
A report going to Cornwall Council's health and adult social care overview and scrutiny committee seeks the council's support for the programme. It explains that the total cost of the scheme now stands at £291.7m.
The document sets out the need for the new unit: "Women and Children’s healthcare services at the Royal Cornwall Hospital should be provided in a modern, fit for purpose, environment. By delivering healthcare in appropriate facilities, high-quality clinical services can be maintained within buildings which perform to optimum levels in terms of cleanliness, safety, and comfort. The existing estate is dated and in poor physical condition".
It explains that the current facilities have been in place for more than 50 years and are in "a poor condition" and that many of them require total replacement. The report says that the Care Quality Commission had highlighted in 2017 concerns "related to the inferior quality of the estate and the impact this has on the safe and effective delivery of services".
The report from RCHT also states that there is around £30m of backlog maintenance which has an impact on the finances of the trust and the ability to provide new, modern services. It adds: "The poor working environment affects staff morale; compromises clinical safety and quality; and constrains the achievement of optimum clinical standards".
Explaining the project, the report states: "The overall programme of work to create a centrally located Women and Children's Hospital, on the RCH (Royal Cornwall Hospital) site, also requires new permanent facilities for three services which need to move out of the footprint of the planned new building. Relocating Pathology, Pharmacy, and Outpatient Diagnostic Cardiology into new purpose-built accommodation will bring additional benefits in terms of improved facilities for those services, as well as improved functional adjacencies to other existing services.
"The new Main Entrance to the Women and Children's Hospital is also planned to become the new Main Entrance for the entire site. This will reorientate the hospital to the south and will bring patients and visitors into the centre of the site. This is in preference to the current entry routes to the hospital which involved several poorly located and congested entrances, and long internal journeys along busy corridors, and over multiple levels, for patients and visitors to reach their destination".
The RCHT scheme is in cohort two of the Government programme along with five other projects across the UK, including a project to build a new integrated emergency care unit at University Plymouth Hospitals NHS Trust. These are all scheduled to start by 2024.
A survey carried out by NHS Providers earlier this year found that many NHS Trusts felt that the entire national project was on "shaky ground" and that there were concerns about whether funding would be provided.
Saffron Cordery, interim chief executive of NHS Providers, said: "Delays nationally and mounting concern about funding mean what was billed as the biggest hospital building programme in a generation is on shaky ground.
"Hopes and expectations have been raised. Now it's time for the government to deliver on the prime minister’s pledge. Trust leaders are deeply frustrated that the benefits they expected to be able to deliver for patients and their communities are increasingly in doubt, in some cases getting further out of reach with every day that goes by.
"This is about much more than bricks and mortar. The New Hospital Programme is a fantastic opportunity to rebuild the fabric of the NHS, providing badly needed renewal for acute, mental health, community and ambulance services.
"Failure to create a modern, comfortable and safe environment for patients where staff can provide first-class care reliably, effectively and efficiently is a missed opportunity which will cost the NHS dear for years to come".
Cornwall Council's health and adult social care overview and scrutiny committee will consider the report when it meets today (October 12th).
Read More:
Government confirms first stage of Women and Children's Unit at Treliske
New women and children's unit at Treliske may not be built until 2027
Update on new women and children's centre at Royal Cornwall Hospital
New £100m women and children's centre at hospital set to be completed a year earlier